Konoha University
by TsukiMotama
Summary: English teacher Naruto Namikaze finds himself in a bind after crushing on a student. Shikamaru pushes him to make the problem even worse, while the Psychology teacher's brother makes the situation that much more complicated.
1. Chapter 1

Naruto-Sensei Chapter 1

The physics major stepped into the teachers' lounge, sleeking his black hair into a small ponytail. "Another troublesome day with retarded students," he sighed. A friend of the teacher, who also went under the title 'sensei', was already there ahead of him, but that was terribly rare. Hearing his friend's moans of annoyance, his face brightened.

"Shika! I was starting to get anxious, as if I'm not under enough stress already," he instantly said, disregarding his friend's earlier complaints. He was the only one who dared to call him such a simple name as 'Shika', abbreviation of the name 'Shikamaru.' "You see, there's this new class coming in fall, and it has this smart person in it. I'm a bit nervous they'll show me up... What d'you think?"

"An intelligent student?" Shikamaru asked, secretly wishing he had _one_. Smiling at his comrade, he replied longingly, "Naruto, just be yourself. You did the work to get your diploma. You have the final say, but make sure to be open to others' opinions."

Naruto pondered on his friend's answer, rubbing his head to make his bed head-looking hair look even more out of order. "Yeah... I'll try... I just hope they're not all smart with me. That's the main reason why I don't like snotty little kids..," he muttered, sitting up and placing his hands on his knees, "Wait! What if this person's snotty too? Auugh!" He grabbed his head and fell to the side, letting his head rest on the arm of the couch, "Worst. Year. Ever." In an attempt to comfort the mutual teacher, Shikamaru reached out and patted the straw yellow hair.

"Awww, poor Naruto-sensei can't stand the preps at Konoha University," he remarked. "Well, you know what this means." Naruto looked up in curiosity, tilting his head to the side.

"What does it mean?" he asked cluelessly. His friend chuckled darkly in reply.

"Lots of pop quizzes. We must keep our students sharp, in any case," Shikamaru declared.

"Aww man, I hate giving pop quizzes...," _Mostly because I remember how much I hated 'em, and I told myself I wouldn't be so harsh... But if Shika advises it, then..._, Naruto thought, sighing. "But if you think I should, then maybe... But, auugh! I hate it when students hate me!" he moaned, grabbing his head. Shikamaru stepped back, stroking his pointy chin.

"Is there someone in particular you have a problem with?" he teased. 

"Well, that's the problem... I dunno who I'll have problem with yet... But once I do, no doubt you'll hear about 'em from me," Naruto answered, sitting up with sudden energy, "And that'll probably be today... The Fall semester begins in one hour! The suspense is killing me, man!"

Trying to make Naruto relax, Shikamaru squeezed a pressure point on his collarbone. "There's no one who doesn't like you," he admitted. "Yet I wonder how Itachi feels about his class. He's generally calm, being a mental expert."

The pinch sent Naruto flying out of his seat, gripping his neck. "D-don't do that~," he groaned, rubbing his neck. Things like that always sent shivers down his spine. 

"As always," came a voice from behind Shikamaru. A man stepped past the Physics and English teacher, towards the coffee machine. His figure was slim and his hair sleek, and midnight black. His eyes were plain black as well, but he didn't give a scary or unnerving appearance. Actually, he tended to make all around him calm and relaxed. Of course, he wouldn't be a good Psychology teacher if he lost his cool easily. "Students don't usually give me trouble. Ones who do never do again," he coolly said as he poured his coffee into a plain white cup. 

Grinning, Shikamaru posed a question: "So, Itachi-san, what kind of retribution do you perform on your disobedient alumni?" He turned to Naruto, urging him to listen.

"Simple mental punishments," Itachi answered simply, taking a silent swig of the coffee, "Punishments like this are easier to carry out, and don't waste valuable paper." He gave the two a casual look, noticing Shikamaru's turn to Naruto. "Of course, if you're wanting basic discipline that's simple and effective, I'd suggest peer pressure."

"Eh?" Naruto questioned, being as dense as always. He needed a better explanation. 

"Threatening punishments against the whole class usually discourages

disobedience. Of course, if it continues, you need to stick to the threat you first proposed for it to become more effective in the future," Itachi clarified.

"That is brilliant! Nothing less expected from our school's psyche!" While pounding his fist against his hand, Shikamaru nodded in approval. "One acts up, and the whole are punished. But- what happens if the mischief maker really does act up?" 

"Like I said, you must stick to your guns for this to work. If you falter in your threat, disobedience only increases instead of decreases. Understand?" Itachi asked them both, doubting that Naruto understood all the way. He took another gulp of his coffee to get rid of the slight dryness in his throat, then waited for their responses.

"Right, right." Shikamaru rolled his eyes at his superior's comment. He leaned back on the Formica counter. The man knew who to call if he had any trouble, and it wasn't this martinet. The janitor's number was on his speed dial, so there would be no doubt where to punish anyone out of line.

"I... think so..," Naruto responded, but didn't like what he understood it to be. Wouldn't that make his class hate him more if he punished them all? Ohh, what a terrible problem... Well, only the future would tell what his new class would turn out to be...

The bells' chimes vibrated in the workroom.

Naruto looked up as the bell let out it's harsh ring, sighing with anxiety built up inside. He gave his co-workers a simple wave 'bye' and quickly left the room, half walking, half running.

"The universal call to get to work," Itachi sighed aloud, rubbing the back of his neck as if it ached. He sat his porcelain white cup down on the counter and finished with a formal 'goodbye', before leaving shortly after the English teacher.

Although Itachi was a rival in his eyes, Shikamaru could not help but be charmed by that chivalrous voice. He thought, "Damn his mind control!"

"B-bye, men," he muttered, keeping the hostility out of his words. Grabbing his planner, the teacher idly slugged to his homeroom, where a group of eager students awaited their lackadaisical instructor.

* * *

><p>There you have it; chapter 1. Not sure if they'll all be this fancy, so don't get your hopes up.<p>

Written by me & a friend.


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto stood outside his door for a couple of seconds, mentally preparing himself. With a deep breath, he opened the door and casually walked in. He picked up a piece of chalk and wrote his name on the board first in hiragana symbols, then in English.

"My name is Naruto Namikaze, and I hope you will address me as 'Namikaze-sensei', or something related to that term. I will be your English teacher to prepare you for business life, since English, as you know, is the universal language of business. It's as crucial to learn English as it is Math, alright?" he introduced, scanning the room for a smart looking person. Well, you couldn't pick them out by just looking... But he was sure to figure out which one it was in due time, "Now, since you know a little about me and I know little about you all, we will introduce ourselves one by one. Would anyone like to go first? If not, I'll just go down by row."

One by one, the nervous students shot up, bowed, and gave obviously rehearsed salutations. In the distant corner on the back row, however, one youth did not stand nor say anything. In fact, the teacher saw that he was snoozing. Naruto sighed heavily, not having heard the smart student yet. He was hoping the snoozing one was not this person. He walked past several desks until he reached the layabout, giving a couple more seconds of sweet silence before deliberately dropping the textbook he had in his hands flat on the floor. It made a fairly loud smacking noise, right next to the sleeper's desk.

"Eh? Is it time?" the dozer muttered. He sat up, opening his fierce hazel eyes. "Sorry, Teach, I just came back from Russia this morning." He rested, until another student motioned him to stand. Reluctantly, his heavy legs pushed his tall figure upright. "I'm Ivan Atushi," he croaked in an odd accent.

Atushi? Naruto had to hold back laughter, which he was relatively good at doing, so not even a smile crossed his face. Since he didn't make anyone else say anything more if they didn't want to, he motioned for the kid to sit down. He picked up his book rather quickly and headed back of the front of the room. "Anybody else that I left out?" he asked once he turned around and placed the textbook on his desk.

The newbies stared back at him like deer in headlights. Curling into the corner, Ivan laid his head on his desk. Everyone else looked around to find any empty desks. They were all occupied.

Naruto sighed and rubbed his head, still looking for that smart one in the crowd. Surely, surely it wasn't Ivan. Then again, their IQ was based on tests. He might do really well on tests, just not class work. He guessed this kid was like a mini version of Shikamaru...

"S-sensei!" The short cry of a girl with cotton-candy pink hair alarmed the hushed class. "I forgot my laptop in the locker! M-may I retrieve it?"  
>Naruto looked are her for a moment and sighed, rubbing the back of his head.<p>

"Sure, but try to be more prepared for class. Next time I may not be so lenient." _Who the heck are you fooling? Of course you'll be just as nice the next time! And the next time, and the next time, and the next..._, he fussed at himself on the inside, continuing to rub his head. _How will I, of all people, pull off this discipline thing?_

Blushing, the girl mentioned "Arigato!" as she sped out.

While she was running contraband, an immature sophomore decided to mock the embarrassed girl. "Oopsie, Sensei, I forgot my lappie!" He cracked, and a couple of his friends joined in. A few roared with chuckles, but the rest of the class still mentally roamed.

"I can't believe the highest GPA left her materials…" whispered the back row's heavy accented voice.

One thing Naruto would not tolerate was harassing other students. This was the number one thing to get his blood boiling. If you wanted to get him irritated, just mock a few classmates and you'd be on the road of regret. A firm hand slammed on the sophomore's desk, a sinister, grinning face looking down at him. "What was that? I didn't quite catch it. Sounded hilarious though. Why don't you repeat it for me?" he asked darkly with a hint of sarcasm.

The idiot threw his hands back in surprise, showing his tearing white eyes. "N-n-nothing!" he lied. His buddies quickly glanced away, as not to have noticed the thrashing teacher. Were these violent teachers even allowed at college? But the helpful words from Itachi remained in Naruto's memory.

Naruto eased back, once again sighing. He backed up and took the chalk to write something extra on the board. He wrote quickly, yet also neatly, in hiragana 'One thing I will not tolerate is harassing other students. If caught, I will not hesitate to assign everyone extra homework. Keep this in mind and we'll have a good year. -Naruto Namikaze.' _I hope this is what Itachi meant_, Naruto thought to himself, already feeling the early effects of guilt. He hated punishing students, especially innocent ones.

Once again, the room fell silent and attentive, absorbing the sensei's writing. The thugs looked pissed, yet not a bit of remorse showed on their ugly faces.

With laptop in hand, the tiny girl bounced back into the room. She looked healthy, but was simply delicate in stature. When the class stared at her, she blushed again, confused, as she took a seat.

"Now that that's cleared up, we can get this semester started," Naruto said when everyone was finally in a seat, "But one more thing I forgot to mention: I don't like to punish, so I'm also not good at it. So I'll be honest with you guys; after my punishments fail to make you behave, I'll personally send you to a person I'm sure you'll regret being sent to. With that being said, I hope we have a good year without this having to be done."

"Hai, Sensei," the class responded in unison, except Ivan, who was already dreaming of his snowy homeland. Glancing maliciously at Naruto, the kid who jeered at Sakura conspired to make this wishy-washy teacher's life hell. At least, his antics would be fun for him.

Having already passed out study sheets to his groaning students, Shikamaru firmly guided his class from the first minute. "Perhaps Naruto-kun found his smarty," he thought, smoothing his hair back.

Everything he wanted to say was out now, and probably more than half of the students already hated him. He turned towards the board and erased where he had wrote his name rather large to write something new. It was a page number. "We'll start on page 45. This deals with the vowels of the English language: a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. Vowels are the main structure in all English words-" He droned on about vowels for a few minutes, before addressing the class yet again, "Who would like to attempt to read sentence one?"

By this time, half of the class was in la-la land with Ivan. Jerkishly, the troublemaker volunteered someone else. "I think Sakura should do it. Everyone else is bored to Hades," he grumbled.  
>Sakura shot up at the mention of her name. Although it was rude, she tried to be as impressive as possible. "I-I can read it," she said meekly. Without missing a word, she translated it perfectly into English.<p>

"Good job Sakura-san! Have you taken English lessons before?" Naruto curiously asked, then looked to the sophomore again. "And please, don't shout to volunteer someone else. If anyone wants to do it, they can. If they don't, I won't make them, nor will you." The smart one, who he assumed was Sakura at this point, definitely wasn't the problem. It was practically every other student besides her, one in particular.

The Yankee cursed and turned his head away. Who was that wimpy teacher, standing him up?

Sakura smiled, gazing shyly toward the floor. "Ever since my second year in high school. I love English," she proclaimed in the Germanic language. Sakura had worked tirelessly to get this scholarship, and knew that she wanted to major in the foreign language.

Sheesh! She knew a lot. Figures, since she started this in her sophomore year all the way up into college. She probably did her own studies at home too! But she wasn't showing him up just yet. She wouldn't in English, at least... he hoped. She'd definitely take him to the cleaners in Math, though. "That makes my job all the easier. Now, to continue on, vowels-" The fresh students were taught the material, but not all of them learned it. Sakura continually answered the questions with humble intelligence. Naruto wished for other students to come up to bat with the sentences, but only Sakura ever raised her hand, so he only had one to pick. Tomorrow he'd call on random people so everyone had a chance to ask questions to better understand the material. The bell let out a loud ring and Naruto waved bye to his students as they shuffled out. He sat with a sigh at his desk, shutting the reference book he had on his desk. After the classroom emptied the students, Shikamaru snuck in.

"Your kids may not be smart, but they sure are cute."

"Don't be hitting on them, Shika," Naruto responded, laughing. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head to act like a pillow. "But don't be fooled; one of the cute ones is the smart one," he mentioned.

"Oh, so Pinkie's the smart one? Darn, I hate smart women. They learn that you have a life, and then they leave you," Shika joked.

"She seemed ok, not full of herself. Then again, that could have been just because she was shy," Naruto mentioned, tapping his foot on the floor, "Can't say I get you. I've never been in a relationship before."

Shikamaru lazily leaned his head on his fist. "Naruto," he chimed, "student-teacher relationships are forbidden. Just keep that in mind." He completely avoided the topic of his past relationships.

Naruto quickly sat up, shaking his hands in denial, "I wasn't thinking about that! Gee, Shika, you're so blunt. I know stuff like that! I was just sayin' I've never been in a relationship before, so I wouldn't know how they would usually turn out..."

"It's completely up to you whether or not to date. But I recommend you to only have serious relationships," he suggested, pointing his finger in the air. "We're old enough to be married, you know."

"Except with students!" Naruto added, to prove he had been paying attention. Well, he already knew that rule and how important it was, but he was making sure Shika knew that he knew.

A warning bell rang as a different English class filtered into the room. Laughing at Naruto's response, Shikamaru dragged his heels to the mouth of the door. "You never know who you'll find. See ya, bro."

"See ya, Shika!" Naruto quickly responded, giving a short wave before going back to his studies.


	3. Chapter 3

Even before the students entered the class, the sleek, black haired man was silent at his desk. He drummed his fingers on the table, looking over the students who had made it in time. Some seemed scared, and others seemed nervous, and then there were the nonchalant ones. Itachi could tell the emotions of each and everyone of them by every single movement they made. That was just how the human mind and body worked.

With her laptop in one hand and her itinerary in the other, Sakura scanned the sheet for her next class. "Oh boy, it's all the way down this hall. Thankfully, it is more fascinating than English," she thought. Her pink locks flowed back as she dashed to her Psychology class. Glancing at the schedule perpetually, Sakura understood that today's session taught Freud's view on mental disorders. Once all seats were filled, or most of them, Itachi opened his mouth, but made no move to stand up.

"Today we will start the semester off with mental disorders, but first; you do not want to break any of my rules. If you do, I'll have no mercy on you," he said to start off intimidating the students. He didn't particularly use fear, but his dark eyes made you not want to disobey him. His soul-piercing eyes kept every student attentive, including regular troublemakers. Mellow yet fierce conclusions of the mind entranced the pupils, from the violent behavior of psychos to the torment schizophrenics face. In fact, the lesson was rather successful, pupils believed they had one of the diseases. Right when Itachi shut his book, the bell rang. Coincidence? Maybe...

"Alright, that concludes today's class. Tomorrow will be a little different, but please pretend it's the same old class," he warned, beginning to tap his fingers on the desk as he read a few documents. _That pink haired one_, he thought, _seems to have quite the head on her shoulders. Perhaps she's Naruto's new student... He shouldn't have a problem, then. She seemed well-behaved._  
>Convinced that the teacher was a medium, the class dazed out, filled with spectacular thoughts. Sakura, however, could not understand the outlandish concepts. She figured that tutoring would be necessary.<p>

Itachi didn't notice that Sakura hadn't left, or at least, didn't lift his head to ask why she was staying. He signed off on a few papers, flipping through a folder, the boring part of being a psychology teacher. Sakura paused at his desk, unaware of the cute face she wore.

"Sensei, please don't take this the wrong way. I tried to pay attention," she held up scribbles, "and write notes, but this class is way over my head. Would you please explain it again?"

Itachi looked up from his papers, and then looked back down. After a moment's pause, he leaned back a little and brought his attention back to the student. "Well, let's see... The only time I don't have a class in here is at 6:30... If you come then, I'll go back over it in bigger detail. If you don't show up, I won't offer these lessons again," he finally answered.

"I'll be here! Thank you!" Sakura bowed, relief flooding her brain. All of her items were gathered in her arms, and she exited merrily.

"Good luck," Itachi muttered to himself, continuing to write down lesson plans for the future and maybe some extra homework to make sure Sakura had the lesson down.

-

Naruto exited his classroom, for he didn't have another class for about four hours. Around this time, he'd usually hang around the school in the teacher's lounge, eating whatever he had packed for today. But today was a bit different, because he hadn't packed anything. That's what you got for having a bad memory... So, he found himself at a snack machine, scoping out the best looking treats. He could get three, but that was all he was allowing himself to eat! No more than three snack foods! Well, actually, that sounded really unhealthy anyways...

"Debating on your lunch? Geez, this place has terrible food," a voice remarked. Shika slyly leaned on the machine, with a disgusted look for its contents.

"Well, I usually take a lunch, but I forgot today. So, to the snack machine I went," Naruto explained while still searching for some good snacks, "Which three would you choose, if you had too?"

Honestly, Shikamaru would rather starve, but he pointed out three decent snacks.

Trusting his decisions, he ordered the three foods and hobbled back to the teacher's lounge with Shikamaru, He collapsed in a seat around an oval table and opened up one of the bags. He ate a chip and began a conversation, "I think I'll have more of a problem with every other student than the one I was anxious about..."

"Already?" With fiery eyes and a sinister look, Shika whispered, "It's pop quiz time."

Naruto looked at him with anxiety, tilting his head the other way. _I don't want to though..._, he thought to himself. 


	4. Chapter 4

As the sun was setting, the sky turned shades of orange, purple, and pink. But, even with night slowly creeping up, everything at the college was still as lively as it had been in the morning. Sakura had tried again and again to comprehend the stellar mental diseases, but she simply could not. A hopeful heart led her back to the classroom. She opened the door to Itachi-sensei's dimly-lit lair and tiptoed inside. Another person was at the back of the room, but he didn't seem to be here to learn or anything of the sort. He was reading a Shakespeare novel, lifted up near his face so Sakura was unable to see his features.

All the sudden, while staying at his desk, Itachi called attention to Sakura, "Ah, you seemed to have made it. So I haven't skipped my break for naught." Because she was focused on the person in the rear of the classroom, Sakura jumped when her teacher summoned her. She also felt a bit guilty for keeping him from his break.

"Now, Haruno-san, take a seat in the front. I'll go over this with you as much as you need, so don't worry about it, alright? Even weekends, if necessary. I don't let capable students fail," Itachi ordered, pointing to the desk at the front.

Sakura still kept her eyes on the figure, attempting to discern its age and gender. From the looks, it seemed like a teenage boy.  
>"Yes, sir," she said, plopping down in the desk. She went on to ask about OCD. As the lesson progressed, the boy didn't move but to turn the page as he read, ignoring the other two's session.<p>

"Well, anymore questions, or do you get it? Even a little?" Itachi asked as the tutoring time was running short. His next class would begin soon, so he'd have to shoo off this student and his little brother.

"It...It's coming along, but I definitely need extra help. Sorry, and thanks for doing this." Scooping up her things, Sakura craned to gaze at the stranger once more. Not only did she require tutoring, but she also wanted to know if the boy would return.

"Oi, Sasuke. You gotta go too," Itachi regretfully said. The boy responded by shutting his book, standing up. He held the book to his side and exited the class, wondering where he'd go next. Despite his younger looking appearance, he was actually twenty-one, three years older than the girl herself. His family just had a gene for low height, and it didn't help that he had his Mom's young facial features.

The absent-minded girl went to the closest exit, then remembered her dorm was the other direction. Retreating to the correct hall, she turned the corner sharply, bumping into the odd person that was with Itachi.  
>"Ah!" she cried, dropping all of her books.<p>

The boy made a small oof noise, dropping his book as well. Once he registered what happened, he went down and picked up all the books, standing up to face the girl. "These are yours, I assume?" he asked with a somewhat nonchalant voice. Only one thing was certain: he was definitely related to Itachi.

Sakura turned a color pinker than her hair at his kindly deed. Gradually taking all of her items, she could only nod and mutter "thank you" before running off. His entrancing eyes told her that the cute kid was related to her teacher.

Sasuke stared after her, then noticed something. He blinked a few times, finally speaking, "My... book..."

In the meanwhile, Sakura rushed blindly as far away from the encounter. Another Uchiha man? Why are they so charming? she inquired, shaking her head. About half an hour later, she found her dorm.

Getting information from his brother who got it from the main office, Sasuke was able to find this 'dorm.' He knocked quietly on it, waiting a few minutes.

Sakura stepped into the bath, relaxing and clearing her head. The scene repeated in her mind, and she felt bad for running away.

"Yes?" A girl answered Sasuke's knock. Her stance clearly inferred that no males were permitted inside.

Sasuke blinked, untouched by embarrassment. "Sorry, wrong room. See, I need a book back... Do you happen to know where Haruno Sakura lives at the time?"

The guardian rolled her eyes. "She's bathing right now. Come back later," she ordered, and proceeded to close the door.

"Just tell her I'm here when she gets out then," Sasuke responded. He needed that book back; it was due to the library tomorrow morning.

Her hair wet and some work costume on, Sakura was brought to the dorm lobby. Pointing to Sasuke, the big girl explained to her friend that he needed a certain book. The giant door reopened.

"Hi..." Sakura mumbled, looking away.

"Hello... You're Haruno Sakura, right? I ran into you outside nii-san's class?" Sasuke asked to make sure he had the right person.

"Oh, you were with Uchiha-sensei?" Sakura peered at his face. "I-I'm sorry about running into you earlier. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I think I accidentally handed you my book as well... It's due soon, so I came to ask if you had it," Sasuke answered, relieved that it was the person he was looking for.

Sakura tilted her head, confused. "Let me go check, she responded, and dashed upstairs. Surely enough, after opening the cover of an unfamiliar book, it was due to the library the next day. She rushed it down and placed it in Sasuke's hands. "My bad," she apologized.

"No, no, it's fine," Sasuke replied modestly, flipping through the pages to make sure he hadn't left a bookmark in there somewhere. "I guess that's all... Thank you very much."

Subconsciously, Sakura closed her eyes and smiled, whispering a goodbye. The dorm entrance closed slowly.

Sasuke nodded to her, and then exited the dorm. _What a strange girl_, he thought to himself as he headed to the school's cafeteria. 


	5. Chapter 5

"Shikamaru! We have a problem!" Naruto screamed, bursting into the teacher's lounge.

"Eh?" A plush couch beheld the reclining teacher. "Keep your voice down. Now, what is it?"

"It's Sasuke!" Naruto said more quietly than he had before, but still pretty loud. "H-h-h-he's...GAH!"

"Is he really?" The teacher showed no sign of enthusiasm. Playing with the end of his ponytail, Shika wondered, "What is he doing here?"

"I dunno, but he's...urrggg...," Naruto groaned, gripping his head, unable to get it out. "He's flirting, Shika!"

The grinning listener dropped his hair. "Oh, it's too bad that some teachers can't do the same. You must be so jealous," he taunted. "Sasuke's probably hooking up with your classroom cutie," Shikamaru devilishly added.

"H-h-how did you know it was her?" Naruto asked, then mentally slapped himself. _He didn't say it was her Naruto! You idiot_, he thought, slumping on the couch beside his friend.

"Come on, you know that Sasuke-kun seduces those beautiful angels. He's always been the Casanova." Shika leaned in close, increasing tension. "What do you plan to do, Naruto?"

"Ga- Well, I figure I shouldn't do anything, but still... Makes me so angry," Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms.  
>The other clasped his hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter.<p>

"D-d-don't laugh at me, Shika!" Naruto yelled, blushing, "What's so funny anyways? I understand that sounds weird and stuff, but I don't get the humor in this terrible situation!"

"You need to get a girl soon, bro, before you start using pick up lines on me."

Naruto groaned, laying his head in his arms, "Yeah right. I'm not much of a ladies' man if you've noticed. Girls always like the guys like Sasuke. Mysterious, dark, and whatnot."

"You've gotta take the initiative. Ladies love guys in charge," Shikamaru voiced. "Be the 'boss'."

"I'm not a 'boss' though...besides, I'd rather be myself rather than playing a role the girls want. Then I'd have to fake my personality forever, and that's just not a happy relationship in my opinion," Naruto explained, lifting his head back up.

"Be Mister Honest and True, and see where that gets you." Shikamaru knew Naruto would get the best girl.

"I will, thank you very much," Naruto answered, crossing his arms, "A fake relationship is just as bad as no relationship in my book."

Refreshed and confident, Sakura bounced into her English class. _Today, I won't mess up, and nothing will get me down!_she told herself.

The class was mingling as the teacher walked in. The Yankees were gossiping, and Ivan dozed in the back. As they all waited for the bell to commence class, including Naruto, he had his head on his desk, nuzzled into his arms. Whatever was he going to do...? Pop quizzes were just too risky in his opinion. He felt the students would hate him and direct their misbehaviors at him; if they weren't going to already. Oii, his head hurt... _Please bell, give me a little more time_, he thought, but his hopes back lashed. As soon as his thought entered his head, the bell let out an obnoxious ring. Naruto let out a quiet groan, lifting himself out of his seat. Today he planned to teach about sentence fragments and run-ons. He'd think about pop quizzes tomorrow.  
>The class was more responsive today, and other people answered questions besides Sakura. The day went relatively well, but he was still stressed about the whole Sasuke thing. Well, what could he do? He had no right to invade on his student's personal life. Actually, he had no right to invade in anyone's personal life, student or not. He'd just have to forget about it...yeah, that sounded like a plan.<p>

"Hey, have you asked a girl out yet?" Shikamaru once again emerged from the shadows. "I'm going for karaoke Thursday with a bunch of adults. You might find the hottie of your dreams there." He batted his eyelashes humorously.

Naruto, who had his head on the desk, didn't move for a few minutes. "Ugghh... I dunno, Shika," he finally answered, sitting up, "I've never really liked anyone... Really think I'll find someone like that in one night?"

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders. "There's a chance. But please come, because I don't want to be left with any chick who can't shut her trap."

"Aww, fine... What could I lose?" Naruto asked, lifting himself off of the desk, "When?"

"Thursday. Seven. Meet at 54th subway," Shika told him. "And be sure to shave your peach fuzz, man." The genius mentor marched back to his own room.

Naruto nodded, memorizing the place and time. Peach fuzz? He didn't have that much facial hair, if at all. Well, anyways, he would go, but he didn't say he would happily. He had a bad feeling about this karaoke thing...


End file.
